


Never Too Late (Please Stay; Just Wait)

by UnhelpfulPanda



Series: JohnDave Week 2017 [3]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dream Bubbles, Love Confessions, M/M, Past Character Death, Shapeshifting, Suicidal Thoughts, i'll explain the biggest plot hole in the notes section at the end, kinda? it more or less follows canon with maybe a few things messed up timeline wise, more or less? i mean they can change how they look so??, there's a secret character that I can't tag because it will ruin the end! so there's that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-07
Updated: 2017-07-07
Packaged: 2018-11-28 20:32:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11425659
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnhelpfulPanda/pseuds/UnhelpfulPanda
Summary: "Being alone on a golden ship hurling through space is pretty hard, especially when the only humans sharing the space are alternate versions of the friends who died because you are a worthless failure."Davesprite gets very overwhelmed and goes to hide out in the dream bubble, but John ends up finding him, somehow, and just doesn't understand Davesprite when he says John is "not HIS John".But is all truly as it seems? It's homestuck, my guy; of course it's not.(Johndave week 2017, day 4, "Alternate Timelines")





	Never Too Late (Please Stay; Just Wait)

**Author's Note:**

> Johndave week 2017, day 4: "Alternate Timelines"
> 
> I think most people choose the same alternates I chose, but whatever!
> 
> I had this idea before Johndaveweek came around, and the outline was just sitting there proverbially collecting dust so I decided to use it for today!
> 
> Warning, Davesprite hates on Terezi a bit, but it makes sense seeing as she IS the reason Davesprite's John died. Just warning y'all so it's not a nasty surprise.
> 
> And now, Andrew turns on the angst!

            Being alone on a golden ship hurling through space is pretty hard, especially when the only humans sharing the space are alternate versions of the friends who died because you are a worthless failure.

            Your name is Dave Strider and…

            No, wait.

            Your name _was_ Dave Strider, once upon a doomed session. It’s still technically your name, but no one called you that anymore. There's another Dave Strider, the _real_ one, the one that is still fully human. You are just a cheap glowing orange knockoff ghost of him.

            You are just Davesprite.

            And sometimes, seeing John and Jade was just too much.

            Sometimes, seeing _John_ was… unbearable. And you had to escape before you did something stupid, because you knew he wasn’t the boy who was tricked into fighting his denizen. You knew he wasn’t the kid with the jetpack who was struck down by Typheus before you could talk some sense into him. He wasn’t the boy you fell in love with…

            And yet, at his core, he was _the same exact person_.

            Fuck, you couldn’t think about this anymore. You slunk off when the two godtiers were distracted, doing what you’ve been constantly doing to cope since you became a sprite.

            You went to sleep.

            Hiding out in the dream bubbles had become a habit. You usually hung out exclusively in your own memories, but sometimes someone else’s memory would catch your eye and you’d wander over. Sometimes, you remembered yourself before you self-prototyped; blonde hair and pale skin, wingless and _with_ _legs_ , not a mess of orange, feathery wings, and a ghostly tail.

            This time, however, you just wanted to sit. You didn’t even conjure up a memory yet; the area around you stayed blank and nebulous, a lazily swirling multicolored mess that you didn’t focus on. Every so often a memory would begin to change the scenery, familiar surroundings fading in to fill the blankness of the bubble, but they would never fully appear, instead fading back out into swirling colors once more.

            You didn’t hear them approach, but someone sat down beside you. You didn’t lift your head but instead took note of yellow shoes and blue pajama pants…

            “John…” you sighed, trying not to sound irritated. Out of all the people who could have found and joined you, why did it have to be _him_? How did he even find you? “I came here to be alone, Egbert,” you told him bitterly.

            “Why?” John asked you, bending until he could peer into your face even though you had hung your head specifically so you _couldn’t_ see him. You sat up and averted your eyes.

            “Can’t a dude get some alone time? Just to think about cool things a cool orange bird sprite thinks about?” you inquired, trying to make light of the situation. John didn’t say anything, and you hoped he would just believe you and wander off.

            The universe continued to torture you, though.

            “What are you thinking about, though? Why won’t you look at me?” John asked, sounding worried and hurt. You sighed through your nose, forcing yourself to look at him.

            “I’m thinking about how I’m a fucking failure, John, and it hurts to look at you because every time I do, it’s just a reminder of how badly I fucked up. About how badly I failed at being a Knight of Time and protecting my friends. About how I failed to save them… how I failed to save _you_ ,” you admitted.

            “But you didn’t fail, Dave Sprite! I’m still alive, aren’t I?” he grinned reassuringly, reaching out to put a hand on your shoulder. You jerked back out of his grasp, shaking your head.

            “You don’t get it, man, you don’t understand. Yeah, you’re _John_ , but you’re not…” you paused, trying not to break down, and started again. “You’re not _my_ John, because I failed so badly I _lost_ my John; because _my_ John fucking _died_!” the last part of your sentence was yelled, because despite your best efforts you couldn’t keep calm. Tears were welling up in your eyes and, try as you might, scrubbing them away only brought more of them, glowing yellow tears streaming down your face.

            “Dave…” John trailed off, sounding so piteous. Fuck, this is why you wanted to get _away from him_. You didn’t want him to _pity_ you.

            You sniffled and spoke through your tears, “I miss my friends. I know, I know, I have you and Jade and we are going to meet up with Rose. But you already _have_ a Dave, remember? The _real_ Dave, not the bargain bin Strider with added orange bird parts. I miss _my_ friends, the one from _my_ session, the ones who all died because I was a worthless **_failure_**!” Your shout pierced the stillness of the bubble as you banged your fist on the ground beside you angrily. John jolted a bit and you took deep breaths, wiping at your wet eyes and taking a deep breath.

            “I heard Dave had actually _befriended_ her. Terezi, I mean; the blind tealblooded troll girl. I don’t fucking get it, either. She got John _killed_. She tried to get _you_ killed too, and would’ve succeeded if Dave and I hadn’t stopped your dumb ass from taking Typheus on,” you let yourself chuckle, and John nodded and laughed with you.

            “Yeah, I guess that _was_ pretty stupid of me,” he agreed.

            “It’s her fault, though, and yet Dave can still make friends with her? I couldn’t. I _hate_ her, and I’ll never forgive her for what she did. She took John away from me! I couldn’t even…” you trailed off, wondering if you should actually say this to John, but then figured, _screw it_. “I never got to tell him I loved him,” you whispered, pushing your face into your hands and trying not to cry any more.

            John was silent beside you. You probably freaked him out, you thought bitterly, until he sighed softly. “Then tell me now,” he whispered back.

            You grit your teeth, trying not to yell. It’s not his fault he doesn’t understand, after all. “I already told you, you’re not _my_ -” When you raise your head to look at him, though, you find blank eyes instead. He wasn’t wearing the Heir of Breath godtier pajamas anymore either, instead wearing a dark turquoise suit with a neon green tie. You think you recall him calling it his “Wise Guy Suit?” You clearly remember it being the suit your John was killed in, though.

            John smiled sadly at you while you just… stared at him, eyes wide and lips parted like you were going to say something. As if you _could_ say anything; there wasn’t anything you could think to say. “I’m sorry I tricked you, Dave. I was worried I would just hurt you if you knew it was me and not alpha timeline John. But… I can see you’re already hurting either way. I just had to see if you were okay…” he explained, voice soft.

            “I’m not!” you shrieked, voice shrill as the tears poured down your face uncontrollably. “I’m not okay, John, why would I _ever_ be okay?! You are dead! You are dead and I can’t be with you! I don’t want to be here, John, I just want to be with you! I just want…” your voice failed you, sadness choking you until you felt you couldn’t breathe. John watched you, eyes wide, hands twitching like he wanted to grab you. “I just want to die,” you whispered, voice filled with agony.

            John lurched forward, gathering you up in his arms as you sobbed pitifully and clutched his shirt for dear life, as if holding him tight enough could keep him here with you forever. He shushed you and murmured soothing words into your hair, and your wings wrapped around the two of you as if shielding you from the realities of your situation.

            “I know you feel lost, and you are lonely and in pain. I know you want to move on, to be with me instead of continuing on with the alpha timeline, but not yet. I can feel it, Dave; you have something important to do, something that you need to see through to the end,” John told you, rocking the two of you lightly back and forth.

            “I don’t know if I can,” you whimpered, squeezing him tighter. You felt him nod.

            “You can, Dave, I promise. You’ve come so far, even with all the hurt you’ve carried with you, and I know you can keep going. I _know_ you’re strong enough, and that things _will_ get better for you. I believe in you, Dave, even if it’s too hard to believe in yourself right now,” John answered you. He kissed the top of your head and added, “but right now the only thing you need to do is cuddle with me, you big nerd!”

            A memory of his room colored in the emptiness of the dream bubble, and he carried you to the bed with the ghost sheets on it and dragged you down with him, snuggling up against you. “I love you,” you mumbled, placing your hand gently on his chest. You were unsurprised to feel no heartbeat, but it still hurt… he took your hand and brought it up to his face instead, and you cupped his cheek without a second thought. He squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them to reveal he had conjured up the memory of his blue eyes again. You figured you would do the same, concentrating until your body was how it was before you prototyped yourself.

            “I love you too, Dave, and I don’t want you to ever forget that, okay?” he asked, smiling adoringly at you. You leaned in and placed a tender kiss on his lips, and the two of you traded kisses until John’s mouth twisted into a frown against you and he pulled back sadly. “You’re going to wake up soon, Dave,” he warned you.

            “Oh… then, I guess this is goodbye,” you sighed, sitting up. John cupped your face and gave you one last peck on the lips, leveling you with a determined stare.

            “This is _not_ goodbye, Dave. I’ll see you again, I know it,” he told you firmly, and then his face eased up into a smile. “See you later, Strider!” he called happily.

            You woke up before you could answer him.

 

* * *

 

 **~SOME TIME LATER~**  


            You rushed through the dream bubbles, a wide smile on your face. A few stray ghosts called out to you as you raced past them, but you just waved at them and continued on.

            You _know_ he’s here somewhere. He told you he would see you again, and like hell are you letting him go back on that promise. Not now. Not after waiting so long. Plus, you guess part of you was a romantic, and there needed to be a happy reunion _pronto_!

            You almost considered giving up your search when you didn’t find him immediately, but you were soul mates; his soul called out for you and yours answered him, finding him in the memory of LOWAS playing idly with his jetpack.

            “JOOOOOOHN!!!” you shouted excitedly, and his head snapped up instantly, blank eyes going wide when he saw you. You pounced on him, hugging him tightly. “I missed you so much!” you laughed, littering kisses all over his face.

            “Oh, Dave! I missed you, too! I’m so glad you finally found happiness!” he replied giddily, and you finally pulled back so he could see you better. He looked you up and down curiously. “Whoa, you look so different from when I last saw you, Dave!” he announced with a huge smile on his face. You grinned so wide it almost hurt as you corrected him.

            “Actually, my name is Davepeta now!”

**Author's Note:**

> so I'm aware that Lord English double-killed the shit out of a bunch of ghosts, one of which we were sure was Davesprite's John and Vriska's "boyfriend". The canon for this fic is as follows:
> 
> There were actually two outcomes to the session where John and Jade died. One of them, as we know, produced Davesprite; the other, however, resulted in Rose dying as well and Dave being all alone in the session. Too filled with grief to even think about fixing things, Dave killed himself. This Dave's John is the one we saw obliviated. The one from THIS fic is the John from Davesprite's timeline.
> 
> As for any other plot holes........ sorry? I guess?
> 
> I totally made an aspect reference for Davepeta at the end there, if you caught it! the "soul mates" line was a Heart reference! I absolutely adore Davepeta, even though I love Davesprite by himself.
> 
>  
> 
> [ Johndaveweek 2017 calendar link ](http://johndaveweek.tumblr.com/post/161303277014)


End file.
